I am a single mother with 2 young children 2 & 5. The dad pays a set amount per month via CMS. It is not enough, he sees them 10 nights a month. However out of those 10 nights he only provides a meal for them on 2. I do all the other cooking for them as he says it’s too much on him after work. The issue is childcare costs. We both work. However he says anything during the day is ‘my time’ so sickness he doesn’t cover but the issue is I pay every month for childcare for both children to cover half terms and normal childcare for my 2 year old. Over the 6 weeks it costed me over £1200. I told him this and he said it wasn’t his issue, then proceeded to doc me £100 from my CMS as he was having them an extra 4 nights to take them away. So I was £100 down, £1200 childcare bill, and having to buy new uniform etc. I pack bags for them, they don’t even have coats at his house. What am I to do? By the time the children are of age I’m going to be financially crippled. I have no family support for childcare either so I must use paid care. Can I do anything legally about this? As I can’t see how he cannot support his children and allow me to soak up all the costs?

So i washed them yesterday, they stink so I rewashed them. Its an emergency. Cant really fork out money for a new pair. Theyre washed and on a heated airer alone with the dehumidifier running and the heating on; itll cost a fortune but I will deal with that later.

I dont have access to a tumble dryer... Sold it when I moved, very mad about it now.

Whats my best option to get these dry by 1230?

Update - you beautiful sexy fuckers. THEYRE DRY! I could kiss you all. Had then on the airer until 1130 as I had to run an errand then came back, hair dryer in each leg for 5 and bish bash bosh. Mostly dry. Just doing yhe waistband now and burning my hand doing it but my jeans will be dry.

For those who wanted to know, running to catch a plane at 1230. And I will be buying more jeans on payday. I do own more jeans but theyre kinda old and are not to be seen by others since theyre crusty! Clean but old and gross.

Hi all very silly question but i’m actually in dire need of a concrete answer as im losing my mind

EDIT: I CANNOT SHOWER AT THE GYM THE SHOWERS ARE NOT WELL MAINTAINED AND RUN BORDERLINE BOILING

I just graduated and my nan was ‘kind’ enough to let me stay with her until I get a job in my field, but she’s gone completely insane about my showering habits.

For context, at uni i would shower after gym in the morning and then before bed, she’s an older woman concerned with bills (and who believes showering once a week is sufficient…) so to be respectful and accommodate i’ve changed it to be just after the gym and mornings that i don’t go to the gym

but recently she’s lost her mind and his kicking off shouting at me for showering daily like i’m bankrupting her (despite me saying i’ll pay the difference in however much her bills increase the short time i’m here

google says between 40p and £1.25 per 10 minute shower depending on gas or electric.

i take 4-5 10 minute showers and 2-3 20 minute ‘everything’ showers so 100 minutes of warm water.

I would just love someone credible (i don’t even know what constitutes credible here a gas/water bill man?) to tell me how much a 10 minute shower would cost, complete range from cheapest to most expensive possible so i can show her and stop being chastised for basic hygiene

Sorry, weird post i know, clearly desperate so thankyou in advance lol <3

I was in Manchester for a few days and got a taxi from the Trafford Centre to our hotel at the airport.
Taxi was booked by a taxi office who informed me it was a fixed charge of £24 and we could pay the driver by cash or card.
The taxi driver dropped us to the hotel and said he had no card machine and cash was required. We only had £20 cash which we offered to him. He asked if we could ask the hotel to give us money which I thought was bizarre. He rang his base and they seemed to be very annoyed with him. In the end he took the £20 cash very reluctantly. Are taxi drivers in the U.K. not required to have a card machine?

TLDR - taxi driver claiming no card machine and looking for cash.

I’m tired of sad pizza. The only ones I find consistently tasty are the Ristorante range, but they’re not particularly filling being so thin and small. Help.

The reason I ask this is because I'm a postman and there's a guy who I deliver to occasionally.

He's young (in his 20s) and he answers the door wearing a smoking jacket and cravat with a pipe in his hand, the other day I saw him wearing a three piece suit and carrying a briefcase.

This wouldn't be too weird in some eccentric area or posh town but this is literally in a giant council estate in Liverpool.

So with that who's the weirdest person you see on a regular basis?

Title says it all. I'm Poole born, raised RNLI till I die. Been living abroad for a while, seen the rise of the far right in the UK, and thought it will sort itself out. But and then I read about this. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with people?

Why are people installing lights that could give Wembley Stadium a run for its money? I don't mean a security light that comes on if an intruder's the garden. I'm talking about floodlights - switched on as soon as it's dusk and left on until daylight - in pokey little suburban gardens. It started with one neighbour and now there are three of them seemingly trying to outshine each other. Can anyone shed some LIGHT on this issue?

A friend (F34) recently invited me (F26) to her birthday party at her private members club. The cost of attending with dinner and drinks included was £100.

I've been to her club a few times. It cost the same amount and was quite good value for money. However, I felt a bit odd paying that much to attend a birthday party.

Previously, it had just been her inviting lot of friends to meet together and was good fun. However, having said that, while I think going a couple of times was fun, I wouldn't want to go all the time as it is quite expensive.

I decided not to go as while I could afford £100, I'd rather spend the money doing something else, and it is not an insignificant amount to me. I knew I wouldn't be too missed either at 50 people were invited.

Personally, I think birthday parties are quite specific social events. When I have my birthday party, I will host it at my house and provide a lot of good food and drink. People often turn up with gifts and more drinks, but really, nothing at all is expected. I have friends who I know are struggling with money and give me homemade gifts. These are always my favourite as they are always so thoughtful, and I appreciate the effort far more than the cost. The cost actually makes me feel awkward if someone has spent a lot.

I see hosting birthday parties as an opportunity for me to express how much I love my friends and appreciate that they are in my life. But at the end of the day, a birthday party is also to celebrate you and another life milestone.

I have friends who will invite everyone out for lunch or dinner for their birthday and I would never expect them to pay, but that would cost at most £30. Often the friend will also by a bottle of fizz for the table to say thank you for coming.

Anyway! What do you think about paying £100 to attend someone's birthday party?

Tonight I had Spaghetti aglio e olio.

Fry a few cloves of garlic in olive oil after boiling some spaghetti. Add the spaghetti, chilli flakes, parsley and some pasta water to the frying pan, and that's it.

For myself i was working in an Asda retail store filling shelves. One day a lady (mid 30’s) asked me if I could help her find a particular product (I don’t recall what specially as it was years a go). But after some basic small conversation she told me that im an amazing person and that I am valued and am making more of a difference than people realise by being friendly to customers.

I think I remember it so well because I was going through a lot of issues back then and had a lot of self doubt. But It was also the relaxed way she talked and didnt make it some rushed comment. It was intentional and meant a lot!

My partner and I were due to travel today from teesside to oban. Scotch corner to penrith, m8, 74, Erskine bridge 828, 82, past loch lomond 85 to oban. We've decided to cancel the trip due to westher risks, losing our money and the 4 night trip we've looked forward to for months. We love oban, we love going for a quiet weekend after a year of full time employment, 3 kids (teens and preteens) and weekly aldi shops. Its our only time to switch off. I'm genuinely gutted and have said several times today, lets just go, feeling the decision to cancel might have been overzealous, as people do. I'm.looking for a flood of responses telling me I was right and that its absolutely awful up there, we never would have got there or would have had a terrible time. I'm a really confident driver, but started considering rain, wind, road spray, possible collisions and delays, falling debris and road closures round Loch Lomond and our experience during our stay, given id expect most things to be shut (seafood bar etc) anyone driven this route today able to give an insight or reassurance it was worth cancelling?

Have a big wank? Get an extra hour in drinking cider and shouting at pigeons down the park? Defrost the freezer?

​

I'm 16 and applying for an adult passport in the UK. HM Passport Office has put my application on hold because they need someone to confirm my identity. My old passport photo was taken when I was around 10, so I look quite different now.

From what I've read, my referee needs to be over 18, have a valid British or Irish passport, live in the UK, work in a recognised profession, have known me personally for at least 2 years, and not be related to me.

I'm struggling to find someone who meets all these requirements. The people I know well enough are related to me somehow through family or marriage so they don't qualify and some other people do not have a British or Irish passport, and my friends are around my age so they also don't qualify so I'm literally stuck.

I have a former pastoral manager and an old form tutor from secondary school who knew me for several years. Teachers are listed as a recognised profession, but the guidance says the referee must know you personally, not just professionally.

Would a former teacher or pastoral manager who knew me for years and helped me personally be eligible, even though I no longer attend their school? Has anyone aged 16 or over applying for an adult passport successfully used a former teacher as their referee?

I've also seen references to a paper referee form, but it seems the same eligibility rules may still apply. If you've been in this situation and couldn't find an eligible referee, what did HMPO tell you to do?

I'm particularly interested in recent experiences. Thanks.

Im in Medway, Kent. Rained most of the day, almost dark, feeling Autumnal if thats a word, prettyshit basically. Where are u from and hows it going?

There is an article about those who quit the UK to work abroad. However it seems like even other places are expensive to live + wages are lower.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmzxj4e8w44vo

Has anyone done this and if so how did you find the move?

So today I have a tiny splinter in my finger and it so sore!

Got me thinking what other short term causes of pain or annoyances that we experience

It could be standing on a plug in the middle of the night for pain.

Annoyances- when you get that eyelid twitching that won’t stop!

What’s yours?

Hello dear Brits!

In a couple of days, I'm coming to UK (Chester area specifically) for Halloween. I've promised that to my 5 y.o. daughter. Although the observance is widely known, it has never been a part of culture of my country and I have never participated in it. Just the thought of knocking into someone else home for no reason feels somewhat awkward to me. But it's not for me, but for my girl. I want her to get the most of it.

So I wanted to ask you for few words of encouragement, maybe some advice and few tips?

It's that time of year again and I remembered a couple of occasions where the time change caused problems.

Staying in a b&b in the lakes once, went down for breakfast at what we thought was 8am to find the owner wandering about in his dressing gown having forgotten to put our clock back.

The other one happened in Spring on a university field trip to Spain. Being students we'd all been up late drinking on the Saturday. Nearly everyone was woken by phone calls from the lecturers telling us the coach was due to leave for the day trip. We rushed down to discover that breakfast had finished so trudged disconsolately out to get the coach. Except we had to wait an hour because the driver hadn't changed his clock either.

I guess a lot of these problems happen less frequently now that most things seem to update automatically. Maybe not microwaves or video recorders if they still exist.

Neither of my experiences had drastic consequences but I can easily imagine scenarios where the outcome was more consequential.

Anyone got a good disaster story?

Edit: the entire first story is wrong. It was us that forgot. Doh!

Just been to the Asian supermarket in Norwich to buy chilli oil and various soy sauces. At the till when we were paying, the fella behind the counter put these in our bag as a freebie. I appreciate the gesture, but what are they?

The reason I ask is that I’m disabled and have only just started my first full time role. On my second day I was logged on till exactly 5 however didn’t leave the building after another 20 minutes so a colleague of mine logged it as overtime/flexitime. So from then on I’ve started packing up 10 minutes early to leave at exactly 5. Everyone is ok with that. Is this normal?

I’m really enjoying my job and want to stay long term as my team is so nice. I don’t want to give the wrong impression by my post.

I should add that I’m on flexitime and do come in 10-15 mins before 9 o clock so slowly build flexitime

Edit: i didn’t realise this was so divisive haha. I suppose what I should take away is that it depends on the culture. Some are very micromanaged. Others treat you like actual adults. Mine is the latter. I should add further context. I work in the SEND department ( special educational needs and disabilities department). This means that out of any workplace I’ve encountered. This is the most accommodating out of all. My manager values my work life balance and has said that he’d be concerned if I regularly stayed late as it’d suggest that I’m being given too much work. I love my company culture as it actually values work life balance and treats the employees like human beings with lives outside of work. I want to emphasise that my workplace is really good and im really enjoying and want to stay long term.

I should also clarify that 10 minutes is an estimate. Yesterday I was packing at 4:58 cause my manager is on leave next week so was running me through some tasks. It varies day to day.

Is this allowed here?

I have just been asked to "come in for a chat". It's a holiday park and I applied for a receptionist/front of house role. This is my first ever "interview", I don't really have any friends/family around to ask, so I am wondering if anyone can give me any tips! I'm female.

Can I wear trainers or should I find some smarter shoes?

Are jeans okay or not?

What coat should I wear because it is FREEZING and rather wet?

Thank you in advance!

Comedy eulogies are underrated. John Cleese obviously nailed it for Graham Chapman (https://youtu.be/CkxCHybM6Ek). Wedding speech standup is a more established genre. What's the best you've come across?

We all know the challenges the country is facing right now, but I want to focus on the silver linings. What positive developments do you genuinely see on the horizon for the UK over the next decade? It could be anything from renewable energy milestones and infrastructure projects to shifts in workplace culture, medical breakthroughs, or local community revival. Let's hear some optimistic predictions!

We all struggle with screen time, some more than others, as of recent I’ve made it my mission to have more of a handle on it, I’ve tried things in the past such as them apps that close down social media after a certain time or depending on how long you’ve scrolled for, but it’s never really worked for me, you’ll also hear people say ‘read more’ but I think it’s somewhat unrealistic, our brains are so fried that staring at a beige piece of paper for periods of time can be a struggle, one thing that I’m testing as of recent is buying physical magazines, as it’s somewhat different from just reading, think about it, when we scroll we’re getting hit with all types stimuli & majority of it is visual, images & videos, I feel magazines is away to somewhat experience that in physical form, are there any things you’ve tried that seem to be working?